Invaluable Love
by yippiee
Summary: Haruhi hasn't seen hide nor hair of the Host Club in years. What will happen when a certain someone suddenly sweeps back into her life? It may not be who you think.
1. Chapter 1:  The Past Recalled

Hello there, reader! I'm Yippiee (okay, that's my penname. _And_ a legitimate way to spell yippiee. Yet, is there any wrong way..?) Anyway, this is my first fanfic, so thanks for reading it. I'm still new to the whole fanfic writing thing so please don't hurt me for wasting your time if it sucks. But hopefully you won't think that.

This is for _Ouran High School Host Club_, my favorite anime. I have a general plot in mind, but who knows? I'll probably tweak it and add ideas and change it as I go along. I haven't a clue how long this will be.

All characters ©Bisco Hatori

**Invaluable Love**

Chapter One: _Remembering the Past_

Fujioka Haruhi sat at her desk, fussing over her homework. She twirled a shoulder length strand of chocolate hued hair absentmindedly around her finger while contemplating the example case she was given to write a paper on. She studied law at the University of Tokyo and now resided in a rented flat nearby. She tapped impatiently at the paper with her pencil, hoping that it would act as a magic wand and suddenly poof a great essay upon the sheet. Her mind was anywhere but with the paper and had not been for the last hour or so.

Haruhi let her mind drift freely from one subject to another. She thought about her current job – she worked at a coffee bar and restaurant in a slightly upper-class neighborhood. As she thought of that, her mind went from the upper-class to her days at Ouran Academy, which was school of the rich and powerful. She couldn't say she disliked her days at Ouran – in fact, they were actually relatively good. She had come with her mind set on one goal, to be a lawyer, but then became indebted to the Host Club.

She smiled at the thought of those six idiots she spent many of her high school days with. She hadn't seen any of the hosts in almost… six years? It didn't seem that it had been that long since she'd seen them. The last of the boys she saw was Tamaki, after her graduation.

Tamaki had been a whole other story. After the Ouran Festival, it was obvious to everyone in the Host Club but Haruhi that he was head-over-heels in love with her. Haruhi, being the oblivious girl that she is, paid no heed to the subtle advances Tamaki was [attempting to make on her. That is, until the summer of her second year.

[Flashback

_Haruhi walked down the beaten brick path of the local park near her apartment. She inhaled the sweet smell of summer air, sweeping with hints of blooming petunias. Without thinking, she kicked a stone across the walk and followed it until it came to a stop. However, it had stopped short, wedged between the worn bricks and an Italian made shoe. She closed her eyes, anticipating which rich bastard she would have to come to bother her during her relaxing stroll. _

_She opened her eyes and looked up, only to discover mesmerizing violet eyes behind sweeping blond locks looming over her. Her heart skipped a beat, half out of surprise and half out of the fact that the boy she liked was standing so close to her. Of course, it wasn't the first time he was near her, but the look in his eyes was so sensual that it alarmed her. Her brown orbs opened wide._

"_T-Tamaki-senpai, you startled me," she said, taking a step back._

_He realized that the distance between them had increased and bowed slightly toward her. _

"_Gomenasai, Haruhi. I hadn't a clue that my awesome presence and breathtaking looks affected you so," he said, his speech laden with self worth. However, the smile on his face told her that he wasn't selfish at all. Stupid sometimes, but never selfish. He had matured quite a bit in the last year, and the changed young man he became was whom Haruhi had started to fall for._

_She gave Tamaki one of her sweet smiles, which made his stomach flutter. He brought down his royal façade and walked over to her, slipping an arm around her thin shoulders. In his left hand, he produced a bouquet of white roses and held them out in front of her. _

"_For you," he said kindly._

"_Arigatou, Tamaki-senpai," she offered back with a small, appreciating smile._

_He led her over to a nearby bench. "As you know, Haruhi, I don't usually take strolls around commoner neighborhoods, so there is a reason I came here today." _

_He took a dramatic pause, staring deeply into her eyes, in which lingered a small look of vague curiosity. "I have come to realize that I see you more than just a treasured friend in my heart, dear Haruhi. I am quite aware that you may not return these feelings, but there is something I must do."_

_The look of vague curiosity had turned into a look of utter surprise when Tamaki gently tilted her chin upwards toward him and placed his soft lips upon her own. Once the shock had relatively subsided, it was replaced with a feeling of utter joy. She felt as if fireworks were going off in her heart – she had been waiting for this moment for the last year. _

_She closed her eyes slowly and snuck both hands around Tamaki's neck, pulling him delicately closer to her. Tamaki's heart rate quickened with excitement and took this advance as a cue to put both of his arms around her waist as her hands became tangled into his hair. She instinctively licked his lower lip to deepen their kiss. They both sat there as the sunset blazed behind them, casting an orange glow upon their moment of pure bliss_

[End Flashback

Haruhi smiled as she thought of her second kiss, that fairytale moment (or at least as close as Haruhi got to that kind of thing) that seemed to last for ages.

She remembered the reactions of the other host club members when they officially announced that they were "together".

[Flashback again

_Haruhi was glowing, and she could feel it. She tried to hide it to keep up her wall of bluntness and to try to shadow it from the semi-perceptive girls that enrolled at Ouran. However, she found it impossible to hide the wide grin that was plastered on her face as she walked hand-in-hand with Tamaki safely inside the Third Music Room to the table where the Host Club meeting was about to take place. _

_Everyone was already there by the time that they had arrived and had witnessed this romantic scene. Kyouya had a malicious gleam on his glasses, hiding any emotion he may have had at the time. The rest of his face was indifferent. Next to him, Kaoru's mouth was in a straight line but was twitching with a frown. He looked at their faces, their intertwined hands, their faces for a tad longer, then glanced at Hikaru. Hikaru was sitting straight up in his high-backed chair with his fists clenched underneath the table. He glared at the pair with an angry snarl, and his eyes looked as though they could produce rays of heat vision and burn Haruhi and Tamaki to ashes. Hunny sat wide-eyed with a piece of cake halfway stuffed into his mouth with the fork hanging out. However, his eyes seemed happier than unreadable or angry. Mori sat there quite emotionless, but did look a tad surprised as he watched the cheerful couple make their way to the table._

_Tamaki, being the good boyfriend and romantic that he is, pulled out the chair that was nearest to his at the head of the table for Haruhi and bowed slightly, beckoning his princess. She smiled sweetly and sat down. He then took his place at the very end of the table, grasping Haruhi's hand as he sat down._

"_Hello, Host Club. We have an announcement to make," he said proudly as he held up Haruhi's hand like a prize. "We're dating! Haruhi and I. __**Actually**__ dating," he exclaimed while Haruhi just smiled and looked at the reactions of her fellow hosts. However, her smile faded ever so slightly as she observed each of the hosts' faces._

_Kyouya actually noticeably frowned a bit, even though the emotionless gleam remained upon his spectacles. Kaoru's eyes unconsciously narrowed slightly, even though he tried to bring up his small frown into a small smile that looked extremely pained. Hikaru, if possible, strengthened his already blinding glare shot towards the two and sat on the edge of his seat. Hunny had eaten the piece of cake and set the fork down and continued to smile, while Mori still appeared slightly surprised but otherwise emotionless._

_The extremely tense silence was broken was Hikaru slammed his fist onto the wooden table, making all present there jump a bit in their seats._

"_Haruhi, how could you go for an idiot like Tono! We thought you would have more common sense than b that /b , to go out with a guy like him!" he said as he pointed an accusatory finger at Tamaki. At that, he stormed out of the room, with a concerned Kaoru following him._

_  
However, before Kaoru left, he whispered something. "Hikaru is right, you know," was all he had said._

[End flashback again

Haruhi could still remember the feeling that stained the air that day. The tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. The only one who seemed relatively happy for them seemed to be Hunny, but he was always happy.

Haruhi rubbed her temples at the thought of going out with Tamaki. Sure, she was in love with him and he returned those feelings, but after a while, the true fire in their relationship had started to go out. Tamaki had soon graduated and started attending college, as it was decided he was to become the Suou heir. Haruhi worked harder than ever on her senior projects and papers, giving the two little time together. After a while, it began to seem as though they were just mutual friends. Acquaintances.

[Flashback …

_Haruhi and Tamaki were walking through the same park they had first kissed in. He had just taken her out to a very exclusive restaurant near his mansion as celebration for her graduation from Ouran Academy. He had his arm around her still tiny shoulders. The mood, which should have been light and loving, was anything but. They sat down on a bench that overlooked the park's lake. Haruhi looked sadly into Tamaki's eyes._

"_Tamaki…" she began, and then paused._

Tamaki was surprised; Haruhi wasn't one to be at a loss for words. Had he done something wrong?

"_Haruhi, what's the matter? You know you can talk with me about anything." He pushed a stray bang away from her beautiful umber eyes. She caught his hand in hers and brought it down onto her lap._

_Not taking her eyes away from his hand, she said, "Tamaki, I care for you deeply, but not the way I did when we began dating." She paused as she absently stroked his hand, obviously deep in thought, sighed, then continued. "I feel like the initial flame between us has extinguished and I no longer see you as more than a close friend. That is why I believe we should see other people."_

_As she finished her statement, Tamaki pulled his hand away from her, settling it onto his own knee. She daringly looked up into his eyes, and the storm she found brewing their pained her heart._

_Tamaki was truly astonished. He had no idea that Haruhi was no longer attracted to him! She hadn't given any clues, and it hadn't seemed like anything had changed between them. He still loved her, but as much as it hurt him to admit, he would have to go with Haruhi's feelings. But he needed to hang on, just a little longer. He looked into her eyes to find tears welling up at the edges. He felt his own eyes sting with tears, and one made its way down his cheek, falling onto his leg. He reached out and wiped her tears away with his thumb._

"_Tamaki…" she said quietly, her frown increasing and tears starting to flow freely._

"_Just… a little… longer…" he whispered as he pulled her into a kiss._

_The whole moment was both sweet and painful for Haruhi, but admittedly more the latter. She pushed him away, and he looked at her with a bit of surprise and a bit of defeat in his eyes._

"_Gomenasai… Tamaki…" was all she said before she got up and walked back towards the road to catch a taxi._

_She didn't look back once._

[End flashback …

Haruhi didn't think of that time very much, but on the rare occasion that she did, it pulled at her heartstrings less and less each time. She truly no longer had feelings for Tamaki. In fact, since she hadn't seen any of the hosts in years, she could actually say that she no longer held relationships with any of them. Should any of their paths cross again, they would have to start out practically as strangers and build relationships from there.

Haruhi looked at the clock – 8:00 PM. It had been about an hour since her mind had started to drift away from her homework. She looked down at the empty sheet of paper.

_It's going to be a long night…_ she thought to herself.

Suddenly, Haruhi's doorbell rang, pulling her out of the cloud of thought she was in.

She grumbled. _Who could possibly be coming this late?_ she thought to herself as she pushed out of her chair and made her way to the door.

Haruhi stood on her toes and peeked out the window to try and get a better glimpse of her mystery visitor. It was already dark, so all she could make out in the faint glow of the night moon was the outline of a tall man with smooth hair, carrying what appeared to be a bouquet of flowers. She advanced towards the door and pulled it open, not sure who to expect on the other side.

♥

Well? Well? What did you think of my first chapter of fanfiction EVER?! Hopefully it wasn't too bad… I really had a fun time writing it. I researched the University of Tokyo to see if they actually had a law program, hoping to find how long it lasted (if they did). They did, but I didn't find out how long, so I figured it could at least be six years for law… Anyway, please review! I have a vague plot that I'm hoping to follow through with this one. The next chapter will bring a whole other character into this story. Not an OOC, but someone you may not be expecting. And I had two ideas smashed into one, so I'll probably make a sequel. Who knows? This could be a tad long though, so please stick with it – I promise I will!

Now you can click the button below and shower me with praise for this wonderful story! Okay, no, you don't have to, just tell me what you thought, and be honest. Constructive criticism is welcome, but please don't bash my story too much. I might cry.

Ooh yeah, I threw in a few basic Japanese words that you probably recognize from the show. To refresh your memory…

Arigatou – Thank you.

Tono – Lord

Gomenasai – I'm sorry.


	2. Chapter 2:  An Unexpected Visitor

Welcome, welcome, welcome to Chapter Two!

I got numerous encouraging reviews, and right now I feel as though I could sit down and write this whole story. That's… pretty much impossible on my part, so I'll just finish Chapter Two (With a bang! And a boom! – Momiji reference) Plus, this chapter gets into some of the feelings Kyouya had towards the idea of TamaHaru in Chapter One.. Hopefully it doesn't bore you too much, but I promise, it won't be long until Chapter Three.

First, I'd like to thank some people for giving me reviews:

FLiPgUrL219

Snowcloud-Warrior-RiverClan

beerbelly

Quill and Saber

PA0PU

DemonSong10

KanameLuver6

…And here are some props to you guys for making sure you keep up with my updates:

Snowcloud-Warrior-RiverClan

Quill and Saber

Hai Kami Cookie-Chan

patback409

KanameLuver6

But please, if you're reading this after it's posted, keep reviewing! I'll respond!

I don't own Ouran… forgot to state the obvious.All characters ©Bisco Hatori (Lame. Ah, well, you may come for the disclaimers but you stay for the fanfic, eh?) -- Pathetic Stab At A Joke

And with that, on to Chapter Two!

**Invaluable Love**

Chapter Two: _An Unexpected Visitor_

_She advanced towards the door and pulled it open, not sure who to expect on the other side…_

Haruhi's expressive coffee eyes popped open as she saw the man on the other side of the door.

He stood there with a bouquet of narcissuses hanging limply in his right hand. He extended his his watched arm in front of him, as though he had been waiting for hours for Haruhi to open the door and was growing impatient. Still in this pose he glanced at Haruhi and looked her up and down before uttering a quick, "Gomenasai, I must have the wrong apartment."

He began to walk away, his foreign made shoes making soft _click, clack_s every time he set foot on the ground in front of him. Haruhi had a moment to gather her bearings before she called out after him.

"K… Kyouya-senpai?" She said, obviously surprised that he would show up at her flat.

He turned around, quick enough to make his ink shaded hair blow slightly in the cool night breeze, but slow enough to not make it look like he was too eager to look at the girl who had called his name. He was, admittedly, rather nervous to see her. His onyx eyes widened slightly in realization behind his glasses, but not enough for Haruhi to notice.

"Hai. Hello, Haruhi. It's been a long while. What… almost six years?" He said casually as he walked back toward, and then into, her apartment. He slipped off his shoes and handed her the flowers with a tiny smile. "For you," he said simply.

She only took the flowers and replied with a small, "Arigatou…" as her eyes widened a tiny bit more. "Please make yourself at comfortable, Kyouya-senpai," she said distractedly as she went to find a vase to put the flowers in.

_Oh wait,_ she thought to herself, _I don't have a vase. I never have flowers._ Instead, she simply got out a pitcher, filled it with water, and set the flowers in it. Then, she made her way back over to the living area where Kyouya had already sat down on a slightly-too-firm-for-his-rich-tastes couch.

She seated herself onto a rocking chair, facing his direction. Haruhi took this chance to observe him. He really had not changed dramatically since she had seen him last at his graduation. His facial features sharpened a bit, his hair a tad longer, taller by a few centimeters, more defined muscles in his arms, noticeable under the white dress shirt that he wore.

_My… he may not have changed much… but the way he matured… he looks… very refined. _Haruhi thought. Then she realized it was Kyouya sitting here. Why had he come after a seven year absence?

"Haruhi, you may be wondering why I am here." He began. There they were again, his telepathic powers. "I happened to be in town on a business trip, you could say. Father will soon be choosing an heir to the Ootori Group, so he will be judging our skills in numerous tasks over the next two months. This one dictates that my oniisans and I must be able to individually handle a meeting with one of his clients. I knew you had planned on attending The University of Tokyo, so I thought that I would stop by." He explained.

Haruhi simply watched him through his whole explanation. Truthfully, Kyouya had never said very much, so this was one of the longer statements she had heard him utter. However, his speech seemed to lack some of the coldness it had been soaked with in high school. Perhaps the years had started to warm him a bit. However, his face still showed no emotion. Unexpectedly, a small smirk appeared on his face. Haruhi looked at him questioningly.

"Haruhi," he said with some sort of authority, "I realize you haven't served me tea yet. What a dishonorable thing, not to serve your guest tea. I suppose the years as a host haven't influenced you at all." He concluded, the Shadow King smile still remaining.

She grudgingly nodded and grumbled at him as she walked up to the kitchen area of her apartment. Now, it was his turn to look at her. He truly had not recognized her when she answered the door. What he had seen and what was standing now at the counter was someone completely different than he had expected. In high school, she was petite and relatively flat-chested with little or no womanly curves. She had a very boyish haircut, which she had kept all throughout their time at Ouran together. Now she seemed to have grown more, but still petite. She had small shoulders and a thin waist, and her brown hair seemed to have grown to her shoulders, so it was obvious that she no longer went with the tomboy look. However, he noticed that she had grown in all the places she should have. She now had hips, at least the minimum of what a woman should have, if not a little more. He was lost in thought as she finished making the tea and walked toward him without him noticing. He was observing how she was no longer flat chested when she pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Excuse me; Kyouya-senpai… is there something wrong?" She asked with her arms extended out, yielding a tray of teacups filled with jasmine tea before him. Kyouya hadn't even realized that he had been staring at her chest as she stood before him. He suddenly realized the situation he was in and hastily took a cup from the tray.

"Arigatou, Haruhi." He said quickly, trying to look undisturbed, but failing due to the light blush that was now painting his cheeks.

Haruhi studied his eyes a bit, which seemed to be averting her gaze, but still unemotional. "No problem, Kyouya-senpai… as long as you're alright." She went back to her seat and blew delicately on the tea, making the tiny rush of steam fan out in front of her.

"So, Haruhi," Kyouya began, having regained his "calm, cool, and collected" composure a few moments ago, "I see you're studying law." He said as he nodded towards the law books scattered across the desk on the other side of the room. He mentally cursed himself for not being able to say something more interesting to her.

"Ah, yes, I am." She said happily. "It's my dream to become a successful lawyer like my mother." Her smile wavered slightly at the thought of her late mother. It still hurt Haruhi to think of her, but truthfully less and less as the years went by. "I only have a short time left before I can finally graduate and get a job," she said determinedly.

Kyouya smiled at her purposefulness toward her goal. He had always admired how committed she seemed to things, especially persevering for the ambitions she wanted to achieve most. It was one of the many things he thought were very interesting about her. In fact, he thought many aspects about her were intriguing. How she didn't care about gender differences. How she managed to remain unperturbed when the twins touched her or messed with her. How she seemed to understand Mori's feelings, even when he didn't say a word. How she was like a mother figure to Hunny. How she seemed confident in seeing through the walls of ice Kyouya had put up against her, against the world. How she managed to fall for that idiot friend of his, Tamaki.

He outwardly grimaced somewhat at his last thought. She had dated Tamaki. He remembered the day they announced that they were dating.

Kyouya's POV

[Flashback

_I stupidly watched, completely astonished as Tamaki and Haruhi merrily walked hand in hand through the Third Music Room, to the table where the Host Club was meeting at the time. Though I was completely astonished, I tried my hardest not to show it, as that was my way, and thickened my ice walls. The aura they were giving off was absolutely joyous, and that only dampened my mood even more. I don't know why my heart felt as though it was burning, obviously with feelings that I couldn't fathom, and I didn't bother to do so._

_Tamaki held out a chair for Haruhi next to him and she took it. He took her hand, held it up, and exclaimed, "__"__We're dating! Haruhi and I. __**Actually**__ dating." This only made my heart wrench even more for some unexplainable reason. I could not hold in my distaste in anymore, so I allowed myself to frown. I couldn't say that I was surprised that they were dating – in the last year, Tamaki had grown even closer to Haruhi, and I noticed that in her actions and looks to Tamaki, something was present. An air of love, one could say. _

_I could not figure out what was piercing my heart so badly when Hikaru slammed his fists on this table, yelled something, and stormed off, with Kaoru following him. I was lost in my own thoughts, and the only recognition I made to the whole scene was subconsciously jumping a bit when Hikaru's fists came down. Haruhi had done it again – she had managed to make me completely stump myself when she wasn't even trying. That girl drove me insane_

[End Flashback

End Kyouya's POV

_Haruhi had done it again_, Kyouya thought as he glanced in her direction. She was sitting contently watching him think, or just thinking deeply herself._ She had managed to make me completely stump myself when she wasn't even trying. That girl drove me insane back then. Even now, she still impresses me with her drive._

Haruhi watched as Kyouya dreamily sipped his tea, obviously out of it thinking about something. He eventually looked at her with that startling gaze of his midnight eyes as if looking straight through her. She fidgeted a bit under his stare, but since he was still thinking, he seemingly had not noticed.

Haruhi adored peace and quiet, but she found the silenced she and Kyouya currently shared to be unnerving. She cleared her throat. "So Kyouya-senpai," she started conversationally, pulling him out of his reverie, "have you seen any of the former hosts lately?"

He looked at her intensely then shook his head. "I haven't seen any of them in person recently. However, I occasionally exchange emails with Hunny and Mori, successfully running their own dojo. The twins have officially joined up with their mother in the fashion business, bringing the Hitachiin label to be one of the most internationally acclaimed designers from Japan. As for Tamaki…" he took this chance to peer up at her to see if his name affected her at all and took a sip of his tea. She did not seem phased, so he continued. "… he is currently working under his father, assisting him in the Suou affairs, hoping to pass some skills onto Tamaki for when he must take his place." Kyouya concluded his explanation by drinking the last of his tea, which he hadn't realized was running out in the first place.

Haruhi smiled secretly to herself. _Kyouya-senpai sure is a chatterbox nowadays. He's sure changed since Ouran. I'd like to get to know this new senpai better. _

Out of the blue, Kyouya posed a question that Haruhi had definitely not been expecting.

"Haruhi, would you like to go on a date with me?"

♥

Well, there's Chapter Two. I tried to get it out pretty quickly, but I didn't do it hastily. I didn't plan on doing it so soon after Chapter One, but I felt inspiration strike my fingers, so I had to get on it.

I apologize that this chapter is a wee bit shorter and really not that exciting. I'm sorry if it's seriously not what you expected. But I had to establish what Kyouya thought of the Tamaki and Haruhi situation and throw in a couple clues as to his feelings. Did you catch them? Can you see the Kyouya/Haruhi magic now?

Plus, I think one of the great points of this couple is that they can have conversations, and the guy can not just touch and/or harass Haruhi. Not that I don't love the twins or anything. But Tamaki... :thumbs down:

**I Promise Chapter Three Will Soon Be Up, As Soon As Tomorrow, Perhaps.  
Then, I'm Taking A Trip To Erie, Leaving Tomorrow Evening. So, No Updates On Saturday Or Sunday.  
Anywho, Feel Free To Review This Chapter, My Now Dedicated Fans!  
Blows Kiss Sorry, But You Guys Make Me Smile.  
**


	3. Chapter 3:  Your Response?

Voila, Chapter Three is here!

Wow, I _have _to thank you guys. I've already gotten **16** reviews, and **450+** hits! In two days! That makes a girl happy for her first fanfic. It also fuels me with the vigor to write more and more! xP

Okay, here are my thanks:

I want to thank all of you who have enjoyed my story so far… I had originally started out as making this a comic kind of sketch, but I'm glad beckoned me to publish it. And now I know why – because you, my dear fans (xP), make me so excited to write!

Right now, I'd like to personally thank all of you who have given me reviews and favorited/put on alert my story/me. Every few chapters, I'll give shout-outs to you all. But that kind of takes a while, and I don't want to use just my time writing that – I want to write Invaluable Love! I'm sure you can agree.

I tell you that it makes me so happy when you review, and I admit to saving all of the emails that I get from about this story! ' So, arigatou gozaimasu!

This chapter has quite a bit of what Kyouya thinks in it. I love that kind stuff. xP

Now, to Chapter Three!

**Invaluable Love**

Chapter Three: _Your Response?_

"_Haruhi, would you like to go on a date with me?"_

It was as if he'd read her mind again.

She thought about it carefully as Kyouya watched her and reflected on what he had just said.

_Wait… did I just ask Haruhi to go on a date with me? _ He realized quietly. He looked toward her face, her brown eyes fogged in concentration, obviously pondering what to say. _Why did I do that? I'm never spontaneous. She's probably busy with schoolwork and not interested anyway, so…_

"Sure, Kyouya-senpai. I'd enjoy that." She replied with a smile, her eyes shining. _What exactly am I thinking? _She studied his widened charcoal eyes and mouth, slightly agape. _What exactly is __**he **__thinking? _She thought, smiling a bit more at his shocked face (or at least as shocked as Kyouya would show).

"Ah… oh… okay then," he said lamely. "Then… how does tomorrow sound?" He figured, _Yes… tomorrow is Sunday, so she won't have any classes. And I don't have anything planned for tomorrow, and I have already gotten my paperwork done for the meeting on Monday. I wonder what we should do. _ He was so engrossed in thought that he hadn't realized Haruhi had already given her answer.

"Kyouya-senpai, are you sure you're alright?" She said with concern. He sure had been spacing out quite a bit during his visit. He was always so alert and perceptive, so Haruhi wondered if he had a fever or something.

Kyouya looked over at Haruhi, who had interrupted his thoughts. "Gomenasai, Haruhi," he said as coolly as possible. "I was just thinking. I did not catch your answer. Would you like to go out tomorrow?" he finished, silently half praising himself for not letting nerves get the best of him, and half scolding himself for being nervous in the first place.

"Ah, yes, tomorrow is fine." She said sweetly. _I'm curious to know what he's thinking so much about._ "What are we going to do? Do I need to dress formally?" she inquired.

"No, I will have everything prepared for you," Kyouya said with confidence, though he was lying through his teeth. He had no clue what they were going to do. He hadn't even planned on asking her out in the first place, let alone coming to her apartment.

**Earlier that evening, from Kyouya's point of view…**

_Kyouya was walking down the street of a commoner neighborhood not far outside the city of Tokyo. He was in the city now for one of the tests his father had put him and his brothers, the potential Ootori heirs, up to. He had needed a bit of fresh air, to clear his mind of the overwhelming responsibilities that were thrown onto his shoulders. He was currently strolling past a floral shop, and through the windows he could see many of the beautiful flowers. Because this beauty did not concern him in the slightest, he continued walking until he came upon a slue of commoner apartments. His dark eyes happened to glance over to one cluster of mailboxes, set in front of one of the complexes. All names he did not recognize, since obviously he was not in contact with any common… suddenly, he did a double take. One of the nameplates upon the boxes read "Fujioka"._

_Kyouya's eyes widened in curiosity and realization. _Fujioka… _he thought _… could that mean Haruhi lives in one of the units of this condominium building? _Kyouya stood there in the middle of the sidewalk in thought as people passed him, shooting him curious glances. _Tamaki did tell me she planned on attending The University of Tokyo…

_Ootori Kyouya now did what he had not done in all of his twenty-five years of existence. He walked quickly back to the flower shop, bought a bouquet of the first flowers he laid eyes on, and rushed back to the building where he assumed Haruhi resided. He was going to do something completely impromptu and visit Haruhi._

_Now, standing and looking at the structure with four units standing before him, looking very intimidating, he was having second thoughts. _Maybe I shouldn't go unexpectedly… _he thought as he was going to turn and go back to his five star hotel in Tokyo. _ No, _he argued with himself, _I'm going to go and visit Haruhi. I can't let my nerves get the best of me. I just have to… _just then, he noticed a flicker of movement through the light of one of the windows in the edifice. _Maybe that is Haruhi, _he wondered as he made his way to the door on the first floor._

_Kyouya knocked somewhat timidly on the door and it opened. Instead of seeing Haruhi there, he met an older woman with a wrinkled face and narrowed eyes._

"_What do you want?" spat the woman._

"_Excuse me," Kyouya said kindly, even though he wanted to walk away from this awkward scene, "I was looking for a Fujioka Haruhi. Does she live in this apartment building?" Kyouya offered her a smile. He did not need any more sour attitudes in his life, having his fill on with his father's ever demanding ways._

_Even with the kindness of Kyouya's smile, the old lady narrowed her eyes even more. "A lot of nerve you got, comin' here so late." She said with extreme displeasure. "She lives up there." She scowled as she pointed up towards the apartment above her. _

"_Arigatou, mada—" Kyouya's thanks was cut off short by the door slamming in his face. He heard the old woman trudge around in her room, muttering something along the lines of "Young kids these days…" and "no respect for elders"._

_Kyouya shrugged this off, as it was no concern of his. He ran up the stairs to the unit the woman claimed Haruhi lived in. He knocked more shyly than the last time on the door, part of him hoping that he would not hear any footsteps coming. He put up his indifferent exterior and looked at his watch, letting the narcissuses droop to his side. _I wonder if that lady was right… _he worried. _ Maybe it is too late for me to be here.

_Before he could change his mind, the door opened slowly, only to reveal a beautiful young woman with shoulder length, straight, cocoa colored hair. She was wearing jean capris, an elbow-length pink shirt, and a surprised look on her pretty face. Her brown eyes opened wide at the sight of him looking at his watch. He glanced up apprehensively and studied her a bit, his heart sinking._

"_Gomenasai, I must have the wrong apartment," he said quickly, walking away before he would have to look at the girl any longer._

"_K… Kyouya-senpai?" Haruhi's voice called out. His heart started to beat faster as he turned around, trying not to look to eager. _

_He tried his best to appear calm before he replied, "Hai. Hello, Haruhi. It's been a long while. What… almost seven years?"_

**Back to Haruhi's apartment and end Kyouya's point of view.**

"Oh, okay then," Haruhi replied cheerfully. _Good thing, that makes it all the easier on me… _Haruhi thought happily.

Kyouya looked at the clock that read 9:45. It took about fifteen minutes by car to get back to his hotel, so if he got back by 10:00, he could get a good night's sleep for the next day, and…

Suddenly, it came to Kyouya's realization that he had been spacing out again. He cleared his throat, causing Haruhi's attention to come to his face. He stood up and proceeded to the door. "Well, I suppose that I should be getting back to my hotel now," he said with an unconcerned tone, hoping to mask the anticipation he felt towards tomorrow's events. Indicating that it was time for his departure, he put on his shoes and opened the door, starting out onto the porch and turning towards the steps.

Kyouya knew Haruhi was following him, so he turned around quickly and looked down at her, causing her to almost crash right into him. "Gomenasai, Haruhi," he apologized, "but please be ready for 11:00 tomorrow."

Haruhi's brown orbs widened slightly at this, causing Kyouya's calm smile to vanish. She looked up at him. "But, Kyouya-senpai likes to sleep in," she said, her voice suggesting worry. "Will that be a major problem for you?" She wondered.

This concern caused Kyouya to produce an unavoidable smile. "I will be fine, Haruhi. If I sleep enough tonight, I will be fine for our date tomorrow." The word _date _almost got caught in his throat, indicating to himself that he was anxious about it. "Just be ready for whatever I may have in store for you." At that, he gently lifted up her hand and placed a light but warm kiss upon it. Then, he vanished from her sight, and she listened to his footsteps recede away from her down the steps and onto the street.

Haruhi blushed ever so slightly at this, surprised that Kyouya would do such a thing. She was also excited for her date tomorrow. She leaned against the doorway. She would have to be careful around this even scarier spontaneous Kyouya. "A whole new version of the Shadow King," she muttered to herself with a smile as she closed the door and went back to her paper.

♥

Okay, so I was kind of disappointed in myself for not doing the date yet, but I just thought that this idea of Kyouya being nervous and spontaneous was too cute to pass up. So, I will start Chapter Four right now, and I promise the date scene will happen soon. Hopefully in the next chapter. If not, it will absolutely be Chapter Five. I'll try to get whatever chapter has the date in it finished today so you can enjoy it over the weekend while I'm getting tan at the beach, 'kay? (I wish. I only burn.)

This chapter was really short, but I'll get on Chapter Four right now. And sorry if I insulted anyone with making the old woman mean. I figured it had to be put in there. xP


	4. Chapter 4:  Preparations for Tomorrow

… Wow. I'm pretty disappointed in myself. Today I decided to dust off the old Invaluable Love and take a stab at trying for the date. I've had part of it written since mid July, and now it's almost October. I've recently taken up doing other things, and then there's the inevitable school. This damn story bugged at my conscience every time I went on but I seriously was having issues. I've also noticed a lot of mistakes in the previous three chapters, but the site won't let me fix them. D:

Ah, well. Here's the story. Going for less OOC Kyoya here, so we'll see if that works. And if you're wondering, I came back from the beach looking like a freaking lobster.

I don't own Ouran High School Host Club. Not a crumb.

Ouran Characters ©Bisco Hatori

**Invaluable Love**

Chapter Four: _Preparations for Tomorrow_

**Yesterday evening…**

"_Yes, I have to travel to Tokyo for business with my father," said the voice on the other end of his cellular phone, its words hinting that the speaker was cold. "I will be returning the Saturday after next."_

_There was a pause on the other end and then a fake sniffle. _

"…_Tamaki?" _

"_Ah, yes, yes, I'm still here, Kyouya," said the blonde haired bachelor in a dramatic tone. "I was just thinking about how Haruhi was attending The University of Tokyo." Tamaki thought of Haruhi every once in a while, his heart both pounding excitedly and drooping sadly at the mere vision of her in his mind. One could say that he still had unending feelings, being that their ending was never really confirmed in his head._

"_I do vaguely remember her saying something about that," was all Kyouya responded in his normal monotonous voice. _I doubt that I would see her, anyway, _he thought to himself, looking around his darkened master bedroom at the Ootori mansion. _Even so… I wonder if she's changed at all.

_Kyouya remembered the girl from Ouran Academy, in his Host Club days. She would always wear a boy's uniform, with a choppy, short hairstyle and no chest. Haruhi was blunt in her speech, always told the truth, and was often annoyed by the Host Club, their cosplays, and most of all, their individual antics. She could see through some of his coldness, though Kyouya could never understand any of her in return._

"_Well Kyouya, I must go. Antoinette needs feeding!" Without a goodbye, the boisterous French hung up the phone._

_Kyouya listened to the soft _beep, beep _dial tone coming from the speaker, lost in thought. _She really was a mystery… I wonder what she'd do if she saw me again?

_Tamaki paced back and forth in the living area of his mansion in Paris, France, his imagination running wild. _I can't believe I mentioned Haruhi to Kyouya! _He thought rapidly. _ Now he's going to look her up and discover where she's been all these years! _Tamaki outwardly gasped. _What if he sweeps her off her feet and they get married and live happily ever after?! I must stop this at once!

_With that, Tamaki summoned his butler, having him contact his private jet; all while stuffing random garments into one of his suitcases. He was determined to beat his best friend._

**Back to Kyouya's hotel suite around 10:25 PM**

Kyouya sat at the desk in his hotel room typing furiously at his laptop. Just before, he had been brainstorming ideas for his date tomorrow with Haruhi, thinking of what she might like.

_I really don't go on many dates, so what would someone like Haruhi enjoy? _ He thought back to what he had learned about her in his Host Club days and about the new Haruhi he had met today. He decided to make a list of what he thought she might enjoy. The list, now discarded in the trash, had read:

Dinner on Ootori Private Yacht

(He scratched this one out; knowing Haruhi probably wouldn't enjoy him flaunting his wealth like that.)

Shopping in Tokyo

(Kyouya also scratched this one out, because Haruhi probably always made purchases in Tokyo. Plus, he hated shopping.)

Flying to New York City in America to watch a show on Broadway

(He knew for a fact that neither of them would like that.)

Kyouya was getting desperate as he scribbled out his latest date idea. He needed something simple, yet not too simple. Somewhere that would require a good amount of money, but not enough to make it seem as though he loved spending yen. That's when one of his better ideas hit him.

Kyouya had his maids put his cooks on alert that he would not need lunch or dinner the following day. Then, he looked up "Hitachiin" on Google, hoping to find that the designers had a Website. Finding this, Kyouya punched the number into his cell phone.

"Is Kaoru-sama present?" he asked the secretary on the other line.

"Hello, Kaoru, this is Kyouya. I have a favor to ask of you for tomorrow…"

**Back at Haruhi's apartment**

_BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BE-_

Haruhi sourly whacked her alarm clock off. The bright red numbers flashed 10:00 in her face.

_Why am I waking up so late? _ She thought to herself. Then she recalled the night before - How Kyouya had unexpectedly appeared on her doorstep, delaying the progress of the long paper she had to complete. After he had left, she figured that the essay would not be completed the next day due to she and Kyouya's date, thus compelling her to finish it last night. Haruhi had stayed up late in the night, perfecting the assignment due on Monday. She had finally finished and gone to bed at around 5:00 AM, because she had constantly been slipping in and out of a conscious state from around 3:00. Even in the tired state, however, she had made sure to set her alarm clock for 10:00 to assure the most sleep as possible before 11:00.

Now that Haruhi was slightly more awake, she rubbed her eyes and slipped the homemade quilt off of her body. She somewhat realized that she was still clad in the pink top and jean capris that she was wearing the night before as she made her way to the bathroom adjacent to her bedroom. Haruhi was not sure what to do to herself for the date in an hour, but did not linger on the thought long. She simply took a quick shower, brushed her teeth and dried her hair, sweeping it back into a ponytail. Since Kyouya had not made specifications on how to dress, she dressed down in jeans and a white t-shirt that hugged her curves yet was perfect for her comfortable tastes.

Haruhi glanced at the clock – 10:35. She had 25 minutes until Kyoya arrived, and she was sure that he would be there at 11:00 on the dot. She decided to use that time to look over her practice case, and in her alert state, she found numerous points to revise.

The time passed quickly, and soon there was a dignified rapt at her door. Haruhi set down her paper, slightly unhappy because she was unfinished with her corrections, and padded over to the door. When she opened it, Kyouya was waiting expectantly for her.

"Ohayo, Haruhi," he said politely as he gingerly took her hand and guided her out of the doorway.

"Ohayo, Kyouya-senpai," she replied as she followed him.

Haruhi groaned a bit when they arrived at the awaiting ride receiving wide-eyed glances sticking out like a sore thumb on the common street. Kyouya only smirked a bit in reply, and brought her around to the passenger's side.

"Kyouya-senpai," Haruhi asked, a bit surprised as he opened the car door to let her in. "Where is the driver?"

"You are looking at him," he replied wryly, indicating to himself. She let out a surprised breath at this.

When they had both settled into the car, Haruhi spoke with a glance out of the side of her eyes. "I didn't know you could drive," she said, amused. "But I suppose the possible Ootori heir must be able to do anything."

Kyoya chuckled a bit in reply. "Of course," he said simply as he put the key into the ignition. "I must be ready for whatever life may throw at me, even if that means having to drive myself places." He started driving down the street when Haruhi looked at him with a small smile on her face.

"So, what do you have planned for us today?" She questioned. He only glanced at her, the unavoidable smirk creeping onto his face.

"You'll see when we arrive."

LOLz no date for you. Kukukuku, yes I am that evil.

But I wrote it. So that's Chapter 4 for ya. It was fun… I haven't written anything vaguely interesting in ages. I should write more often!

People on alert: YES, YOU SHOULD, YOU SLACKER:brick'd:

Sorry. I really am. I love you all, like Haruhi loves ootori. (Haha, see what I did? Right there? With the ootoro..? Gah, nevermind.)

_**IMPORTANT: I seriously need ideas for the date here people. Give me your awesome ideas and maybe I'll use them!**_


End file.
